The Weeping Empress
4.1
17
5
1
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781257814411 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Lulu.com |
| Publication date: | 12/14/2011 |
| Pages: | 252 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d) |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
The Weeping Empress
4.1 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
17 reviews.
 |
This is a worthy read. From the very first page you, like the main character, are thrown into the action, keeping you interested in what happens next. The characters are relatable, despite the fictional setting, and the ending leaves you wanting more. Anyone who likes a strong female lead, untenable situations and a little titillation will love this book. I know I did and will definitely read another one of Forsythe's books.
|
|
Thoroughly engrossing.
|
|
What an amazing unique story. I will tell you all that i fell in love with this book by the end of it, but let me give you an idea of what the story is about.
The story is of a woman named Chiyo. At the very beginning of the story she is thrown into battle with two samurai against the emperor's goons. It is not her time or place. She went to bed a modern day Japanese woman, married with a daughter, only to wake up in what appears to be feudal Japan centuries ago.
The two samurai are Muhjah and Senka, highly trained samurai who live to disrupt the emperor and all the nyims who follow him. Chiyo joins them and is trained by them. As they create problems for the emperor in the name of bloodlust and rebellion, Chiyo is rumored to be sent by the Goddess Kali herself to save them and lead them into the future. Will she accept this new life and prophecy?
For me this book read just like an anime cartoon, and more specifically, a Manga from the 1990s. The way Forsythe describes battle scenes and how the plot unfolds is dead on for that kind of genre. I admit to having a great love for dark anime, especially Manga. Even better than that though, was the fact that the dialogue is in the authors own words. I don't know the Japanese language at all, but i do know that most dialogues in anime cartoons are awful because of dubbing into an English translation. There is nothing cheesy about Forsythe's dialogue in this book and it makes it even better.
Although there are no crazy super-like powers that the characters in the story possess (at least not as exaggerated as one would find in an actual anime), there are some things that go beyond the sense of reality. In my opinion its good to have this aspect muted somewhat in a novel. But just like many animes do, Forsythe really takes a look at the nature of humans in general as a society. One chapter in particular dwells on this and it is done beautifully. Most action movies never get too focused on such things and its a shame. However, many animes do, and this book falls right in line with it. Its great to see because it makes the story multi-dimensional. For all the action and mayhem there are still things to get philosophical on.
There were some minor editing/grammar issues along the way in the story. They were minimal though, and i attribute a lot of such mistakes to a lack of good editing. Its tough when you're an indie publisher, so seeing this occur as far and few between as it was isn't bad, and didn't really distract me from my enjoyment of this story.
Finally, the Alfred Hitchcock style ending was the perfect finishing touch to the story. It took me to a place I did not expect to go, but once I was there it fit as though anything different would have been a disappointment.
All in all, I feel it is my duty to give this book a high rating. I am absolutely head over heels for this, knowing I will reread this at least a few more times in the future. If not for the minor editing mistakes, this book would be 5 full stars. Since lack of editing was present, I have to give The Weeping Empress by Sadie Forsythe 4.5 stars. Thank you for an incredible read!
|
|
Loved this story! Would like to see more books from thiss author!
|
|
Chiyo Alglaeca, a modern-day wife and mother awakens in the midst of a battle. She is forced to fight for her life and discovers instincts and abilities that she never knew herself to possess. In a strange land, that bears more than a passing resemblance to the samurai-age of Japan, she finds herself the companion of two strange rebels, the foretell savior in a cult’s prophecy, and hunted down by the emperor. Her two rebel companions reluctantly allow her to accompany them and teach her sword fighting. Over time she becomes more violent and unrestrained, all the while struggling to come to terms with probably never seeing her husband or child again.
The weeping empress has a promising first few pages, the stage for a brilliant novel is set. The concept of a modern-day wife and mother being cast into an unrelenting vicious warrior-society is an intriguing concept. However, the Weeping empress falls short in several areas, and the plot soon thins. Early in the book Chiyo is portrayed as fighting out of necessity and instinct, but shortly thereafter, the reader will be astonished to see an almost overnight transition. In the span of a few pages she changes into a gratuitous killer, killing less for necessity and more for an apparent pleasure that it affords her. The two rebels, Senka and Muhjah are even less easy to fathom as there appears to be no definite reason for there actions beyond gratuitous and unrestrained violence. At one point their motives appear to be freeing the people from the emperor’s oppression; Nevertheless this motive falls through as the reader is never fully shown just how they are accomplishing this goal. And the showy and violent scenes of battle and gore begin to vastly overshadow any apparent motives they may have had. By the end of the book readers will find themselves hard pressed to remember, any of what Chiyo Alglaecea was in the beginning, all humanity is apparently stripped away, leaving a skeleton of fury and violence, that is truly terrible to behold.
The Weeping empress also has numerous problems with progressing the plot along; at many times the story becomes an amorphous blur of fight scenes and wanton bloodshed. At one point the book progresses nearly four years with little point of references for the reader. The mythology in the book comes across as contrived in many places, and many readers will have trouble accepting Chyo’s extremely abrupt transformation from mother and wife to ruthless killer, it speaks less of the hand of destiny’s interplay in her life and more of almost sociopathic tendencies. It’s not the fact that she kills but she begins to like it too much. One would imagine that she would at least feel a little remorse or possibly regret at her actions, but the emotional interplay of conflicting emotions is never shown.
The Weeping empress is not all bad, it does contain a few small rays of literary light that redeem the book somewhat. The Sacerdotisa, the religious cult in the book, are an interesting group of women. The author is definitely talented at providing visual descriptions with the written word. And the cover of the book is beautiful, providing a nice counterpoint to the text.
Overall, the Weeping empress is not an awful book just not a great book. The book would have possibly have received three stars, but I had to honestly ask myself one question would I read it again and the answer for me is, no.
Disclaimer: Book was provided for review from author.
|
|
Chiyo Alglaeca was living a happy with her husband Michael and their daughter Hannah. When she unexpectedly finds herself in a faraway land of Dashkalil with no memory of how she got there. She meets up with Muhjah and Senka on the road escaping the nyims wrath. Muhjah and Senka are drawn to Chiyo in ways neither can explain. Chiyo does not accept being helpless and tries to change her circumstances for herself and those around her. Senka believes Chiyo is Muhjah's pet project and limits his contact with her. Muhjah starts teaching Chiyo how to defend herself and eventually Senka helps with this as well. Andela secretly worships in the Sacerdosita of Kali and knows of a little known prophecy about the Arm of the Goddess. Andela believes that Chiyo is the Arm of the Goddess. Senka, Muhjah, and Chiyo disrupt the nyims all over Dashkalil but avoid the capital city in their wanderings. Emperor Kenichi is tired of this band of rebels being a thorn in his side. It's time to bring this to an end. Chiyo is captured and tortured at the Emperor's command. Senka and Muhjah rescue Chiyo with the help of Sacerdosita on one condition but neither of them like the condition yet accept it. Will Chiyo ever return to her family? What does Chiiyo think of the condition? Can Senka and Muhjah help Chiyo in her task? What is the ultimate goal of Sacerdosita? Your answers await you in The Weeping Empress.
|
|
The story begins with a glimpse into Chiyo’s modern life as a wife and a mother. As she goes to bed with thoughts and plans forming in her mind for the next day, she has no idea about how her life is going to take an unexpected turn. She wakes up in the middle of a fight in a timeline she knows little about. As her human instincts of self-preservation takes over, she turns from trying to run away to safety to fighting for her life. Soon the story starts to build a certain momentum, once Chiyo realizes that it is not a dream and that her chances of going back to her alternate secure life is slim, she decides to follow the two warriors and train herself. Soon she is involved in prophecies and bloody encounters that raise a dormant beast within her. A beast that wants more action, more blood and mostly revenge for what she had lost.
The plot is unique in the sense that it merges historical fiction with time travel, a large dose of religion, some culture and a lot of action and drama. The author has done a fine job of taking us to a time when people are starting to lose faith in God and believe (rather scared) of the tyranny of the current emperor. Whether describing characters, or a fight or the train of thought of a particular character, the language describing it all makes it a great read. Also there is a smooth flow in the language also makes the transition easier when the narration switches from character to character and giving us readers an idea about what exactly each character is thinking at any crucial part. And for someone like me, who had almost zero idea about swords and fighting styles, it was really a fascinating read. The experience was only made better with some expected and some unexpected twists in it.
Now coming to the characters – my favourite part of any story – I have to say that Chiyo had me confused for a while. At the beginning I thought that her transformation from a housewife to a warrior was too rapid. How can a nurturing and caring mother turn into someone blood thirsty within such a short span? How can someone used to a secured environment suddenly become so ruthless. But as the story continued, I realized that Chiyo was meant to be a ruthless warrior and all those traits had been dormant within her in her life as a mother. Besides one should never underestimate the rage of Mother who is taken away from her child, right?
The other two dominating characters are Senka and Muhjah. Muhjah is jovial (well compared to Senka everybody is fun-loving) and Senka is the reserved - thinker. Their personalities are so polar opposites, yet they make a perfect team together. They moved as one and fought as one. Their bond reminded me of the famous “Jai and Veeru” duo. [For those who are not aware of Jai and Veeru, they are fictional characters from Sholay – an evergreen Bollywood movie] They lived by their own rules and they lived to fight. But yes, I loved Senka the most.
Overall, it is a well-balanced and well written novel that everyone with a strong heart should read.
|
|
I WANTED to Love This Book
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Autumn
Chiyo Alglaeca is living quietly with her husband Michael and her young daughter Hannah. Until one fateful night, she wakes up and finds herself in an unknown land. She encounters two warriors by the names of Muhjah and Senka and she decides to join them in their fight against the evil Emperor Kenichi. They can’t help but marvel at how she survives each ferocious battle given that she has no proper training.
Muhjah and Senka are not the only ones that notice there is something very special about Chiyo. An old woman named Andela thinks she knows the reason why. She informs the Sisters of the Sacerdotisa that she believes that she has found the Right Hand of the Goddess. The Right Hand is said to be the savior of all people in this world torn apart by cruelty and war. Chiyo has to decide if she is a believer or just another lost soul.
I wanted to love this book. I really tried, but in the end, I just couldn’t make an emotional connection to the characters. I wanted to know more about how Chiyo felt about being torn from her existing family for reasons unknown. I wanted to know more about the developing relationship between Chiyo and Senka. Any insight to how Chiyo coped with her feelings and fears would have gone a long way for me.
There are still some incredible aspects of the book, as well. The action, the world building and the Samurai influenced details will most definitely stand out to the reader and I would recommend it based on that alone. The Weeping Empress is a unique read that dystopian lovers will want to add to their reading list.
This review and more on openbooksociety dot com
|
|
Like other people reviewed, this is a totally unexpected story. Nonetheless, it is still an awesome one filled with adventure and magic. A very enjoyable read.....the ending made me upset though..:( but overall a very good book with few grammatical errors.
|
|
Very enjoyable and unexpected story. A pleasant read.
|
|
What? A woman, seemingly happy in her modern day life as a mother and a wife suddenly awakes to find herself transported back in time, to a place unfamiliar where emperors ruled in castles, where one defended with swords and people were looking for a savior. Not a book I would typically read nor want to pick up, however it was sitting in my nook as a free download and I needed something to read, so I went for it. I was pleasantly surprised by how addicted to the book I became. The writing was crisp and the characters engaging. Toss in battles, heartache, triumph, loss, strength, a bit of mystery and you have 'The Weeping Empress'. Overall a good read!
|
|
I have more reason than most to like this book, having admitted that, I most certainly do. I like the characters, the pace, the atmosphere, and the lack of warm fuzzies. It is well worth the read.
|
|
I really wanted to like this book because of the grippingly vague synopsis, but unfortunately the grippingly vague synopsis is exactly why I couldn't like it. I went into reading The Weeping Empress knowing neither the context nor the setting. Eventually Chiyo's sudden displacement is explained by a bit of spiritual power, a bit of time travel, but because it isn't stated explicitly, overall this book was very confusing and hard to keep up with.
The exodus of the goddess Kali wreaks havoc upon dynasty-era Japan, which is the time period to when Chiyo one day wakes up. The beginning of this book is awfully slow—as is the end, but at least stuff happens, then; I really had to struggle to get there. In fact, it isn't clear what's happened to Chiyo until the very last few pages, which does serve as a surprising, fitting plot twist, but I would have preferred not to plow through more than 200 pages to encounter it.
As Chiyo becomes unsettlingly involved in the social upheaval of the Samurai, her anger, vengeance, and mental instability soon make her realize the cruelty in herself, and the purpose it serves in fate's even crueler decisions.
I wish I had better things to say about The Weeping Empress but overall it's just excruciatingly sluggishly paced and most of the content doesn't flow well. The premise was promising, but the execution rather disappointing, and the characters unexplored.
Pros: Interesting insights on absolute power, deification, and spirituality // Great conclusion
Cons: Drags on a LOT // Ordinary style, sometimes confusing to follow // Plot is just an unmemorable jumble of battle sequences and folklore—easy to get lost in, and not in a good way // Flat, boring characters // I didn't even pick up on the Japanese Samurai theme until halfway into the story
Verdict: The adventure and edgy violence in The Weeping Empress may please some readers; this high fantasy novel has plenty of action and turmoil to go around. However, I was dissatisfied with it because of how hard it was to read—a result of its slow pace, mundane style, and lacking characters. I personally don't recommend this story about the warrior queen desperate to be saved; while reading, I was the one in desperate need of saving.
Rating: 4 out of 10 hearts (2 stars): So-so; reading this book may cause wrinkles (from frowning so much).
Source: Complimentary copy provided by author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Sadie!).
|
|
|
|
A dark “fairytale” worthy of the Brothers Grimm
When Chiyo wakes up in a strange world, dressed in pajamas, she’s unprepared for the violence and danger that await. How did she get there? Why did someone pluck her ordinary life with a husband and young daughter? Fortunately Chiyo meets two samurai warriors, Senka and Muhjah. Without knowing how to fight, the girl grabs a sword and jumps into the bloody battle to save herself. She gains a grain of respect from the warriors, who let her tag along in their journey.
She’s landed in a cruel world, filled with death, destruction, and unjust treatment by the rulers. Can Chiyo learn to survive while she searches for a way to return to her own world and find her family? This is not a fairytale where the lost princess finds a knight to fight her battles and lives happily ever after. This is a gritty tale of hardship and determination. Chiyo must swiftly learn to wield her own sword and steal herself against the revulsion of killing. She works hard and becomes good at it.
Chiyo joins the expert swordsmen to fight “hit and run” skirmishes against cruel rulers. Although survival fuels her efforts in the beginning, revenge becomes her motivation to live and fight day after day. Chiyo becomes a legend, and religious zealots seek to use her as a weapon to restore their power.
This is not a typical sword and sorcery tale. There’s plenty of bloody fighting, gruesome battles, dramatic sword play, and distasteful torture. Chiyo is not an ordinary beautiful damsel in distress. She dives in and wields a sword, learns to cultivate the “monster” inside that enjoys fighting, and wins one battle at a time. Chiyo won’t let others control her destiny, and uses her own sorrow and anger to wreak a just revenge. It’s a “fairytale” worthy of the Brothers Grimm but not one fit for children.
|
|
|
|
I said u that u needed to be on more so we can talk
|